GARFIELD COUNTY, CO –Garfield County and the town of Carbondale have agreed on an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) to annex property at Red Hill, develop parking and hiking and multi-use trails, and realign County Road 107. Under the IGA, the county is providing $428,000 toward the CR 107 realignment, which will be completed by Garfield County Road and Bridge.

Carbondale purchased the property at the base of Red Hill, at the confluence of Highway 82 and County Road 133, for use as open space, trail connections, and parking lots. A portion of Colorado Department of transportation (CDOT) property at the site will be annexed as part of the agreement.

Carbondale will fund construction of parking lots and maintain them, while the county will both maintain CR 107 and â€œrough-inâ€ the upper and lower parking lots, and construct the new entrance to CR 107.

â€œCarbondale has been busy performing the design and engineering of the project, and has worked with our Road and Bridge Department on the design,â€ explained Garfield County Manager Kevin Batchelder to the Board of County Commissioners. â€œThe intergovernmental agreement is intended to incorporate all the terms of this joint effort between the town of Carbondale and Garfield County.â€

Commissioner Tom Jankovsky noted that there will be some inconveniences during the construction phase this year, and he encouraged recreationists hiking up Red Hill to the Mushroom Rock area to utilize alternative routes.

â€œIf members of the public can access Red Hill from different ways and work with our crews on this, it would be appreciated,â€ he said.